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| TRAVELS WITH MY DINOSAUR 05 June - 05 August 2003 |
| Friday 20th June. I visited Children�s Healthcare Of Atlanta today. You can read about my visit via the Oxford Children�s Hospital website. I really enjoyed today. Navigating the MARTA subway was something of a challenge as there were no employees to ask for assistance. I felt a little better that two businessmen were also being tried by the process though. once armed with my token, I then had to locate the northbound platform, Fortunately, I asked a group of young people - who just happened to be heading that way. The three girls are students at the University of Pennsylvania, doing a summer internship with Coca Cola. Like me, they were heading to the Lenox Mall to shop. I was there to solve the problem of Kay�s Vell Phone battery running down so fast.` Sprint had told me in Miami that was entitled to a free cell phone as part of the package I�d bought. I didn�t initially take up the offer because I assumed the phone would be OK, and I didn�t want to create more luggage for myself. However, I now have a brand new (free) Nokia 3585i dual band/tri mode red cell phone. The Sprint Store is located opposite the SwissHotel, which is where I found a cab to CHOA. The road between the Mall and the Sprint Store was really scary though. It wasn�t especially buy, but its width was extremely daunting. Many of America�s downtown roads carry four lanes of traffic, and I might as well have left my white stick at home, for all the attention drivers pay to it. I decided to just wait until I could ask someone to help - which wasn�t too long really, but I shouldn�t have to do that. Drivers are supposed to stop when they see a white stick in the USA, but not one has done so for me yet, and I feel like I�m holding my heart in my throat each time I stand on the curb side. The other criticism I have about US roads is the pedestrian crossings. They don�t beep, and the lights are strung right across the intersection, which usually means I am looking up to a 45 degree angle or more, invariably into the sun - which means I end up closing my eye because of the brightness. Thiks is all assuming I can actually find the button to press in the first place. Even here, one would expect that if a driver sees a person with a white stick and knows it is safe for them to cross, they would tap their horn or something to indicate this. Wrong again. Do they just sit therte and think �oh silly girl, why doesn�t she just walk?� Perhaps they should be the ones using the white stick. Apologies to any courteous American drivers reading this, but my experience so far suggests that you are desperately in the minority. Ok, moaning over. I spent the rest of the day at CHOA and the RMH at Egleston, arriving back to the youth hostel at 11.30pm. Fortunately, Lydia had kindly arranged for a cab voucher, which I really appreciated. A long, but enjoyable day. |